World Bulletin / News Desk

North Korea faces the threat of more United Nations sanctions after South Korea revealed Tuesday that it has referred the reclusive state to a UN Security Council committee.

Pyongyang’s state-run media announced earlier this month that the North had test-fired a ballistic missile from a submarine.

While experts in the United States have doubted the veracity of North Korea’s claim, Seoul’s official stance is that the launch was a success.

The missile test represents a breakthrough in the North’s capabilities, and a breach of existing UN Security Council resolutions.

South Korea’s foreign ministry announced at a press briefing that it has asked a panel responsible for North Korea sanctions to look into the matter.

Pyongyang has been hit by a series of economic restrictions in the past due to its missile activities, along with three known nuclear tests.

Meanwhile, the North did not attempt to play down its enhanced technology Tuesday - with its KCNA news agency carrying a report in which leader Kim Jong-un lavished praise on those behind the country’s submarine-launched test.

Tensions were also rising in waters to the west of the peninsula, as the South’s military was responding to new military camps on an island north of the inter-Korean maritime border.

“Five bunker-shaped camps have been built,” confirmed an officer quoted by South Korean news agency Yonhap.

Seoul has reportedly bolstered its defenses in the Yellow Sea in order to deter any threat in the area, which was the scene of a North Korean artillery attack that claimed four lives in 2010.